The country is easily the strongest island nation in the Pacific, with Australia and Indonesia a distant second and third, respectively. With a dozen active grandmasters and a top-30 world player, the Philippines is behind only China and India as the best chess country in Asia.

The country also has more depth than you might think. The November Elo rating of their 100th-best player is 2122, higher than China's 100th player (2121). Chess.com itself is certainly aware of the game's popularity among Filipinos, as the island ranks fourth in terms of total members per country on our site. The tragedy taking place in the Philippines and the wealth of chess history inspired me to write a piece on the history of chess in their country.

Former World Champion and FIDE Presidential candidate Garry Kasparov concurred with the article’s sentiment:

Great meetings in Philippines! I thank them for the warm welcome despite the terrible tragedy of Typhoon Haiyan. My thoughts are with them.